


Karmic Terror

by Cear_IK



Series: UnderErased [6]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Karmic Retribution, Night Terrors, damnit Morgue, undramatic death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-22
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2018-09-26 01:00:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9855005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cear_IK/pseuds/Cear_IK
Summary: The Night-Terrors are back! But this time it isn't Morgue who has them. Nope, Comic is the unlucky winner this time. That's okay- Red goes and watches the innocents while Edge, Stretch, and Morgue go try to help Comic. 'Cept that's aliiittlecomplicated by his magic... Comic deals one damage but has Karmic Retribution; Stretch has 1HP and the other two have high LV...woops.





	1. Karmic Retribution + Night Terrors = Bad

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry UG, I know it's not the one-shot you wanted to see next, but this one's been brewing for a couple days or so, though the concept pre-dates writing out UnderErased.
> 
> Actually, I wrote this out on paper, but then while I was typing it up I had a revelation, and after rewriting things three different times, it's practically a whole new fic, although the beginning remained the same. Hope it's better.

Nights were usually quiet, a time for night owls to enjoy their drink of choice and relax while enjoying the peace.

That was why the scream that night was so far out of the ordinary. And why the household responded to the scream like an overturned anthill with everyone rushing to the source. 

Problem was, it was Comic's voice that was screaming.

No one had ever heard Comic raise his voice, let alone scream so brokenly.

Morgue had already been awake (she was starting to develop something the older brothers were calling 'somniphobia'), but the Fell brothers, accustomed to their combat-heavy universe, were hard on her heels as she rushed to Comic's room. Red peeled off to cover Rus' room- no one wanted the innocent skeleton to see his brother in the amount of distress that screamed had conveyed, and if there was danger, everyone in the house wanted him protected. Blue was quickly diverted to Rus' room as 'emotional support' for similar reasons. So it was that Morgue entered Comic's room with only Edge and Stretch as back-up- and promptly froze at what she was seeing.

Comic thrashed on his bed, one eye ablaze, hands scrabbling for purchase against the sheets, the wall, his  _skull_... And, as if that wasn't enough, his magic was running rampant with apparent free reign, floating objects combining with bone constructs to create a very dangerous whirlwind in the room. It was a small blessing, but from the looks of it they were lucky no blasters had summoned themselves, either. They still had to get through the storm to Sans though- between magic depletion and the rents he was busy giving himself in the throes of his night-terror, it was a toss up for which would damage his hp first.

Both Papyruses and Morgue were highly capable at dodging however, so they headed into the tempest regardless. They didn't have a choice- they had to get to Sans before he actually did damage himself. Watching each other's backs, they made it to Sans' bedside, where the clutter of flying objects was lessened closer to its' source. Stretch focused on the thrashing skeleton.

"so now what? not like we can just grab hi-"  
**"WATCH IT!"**

Edge grabbed the orange-clad skeleton and blocked an incoming bone with his own summoned construct, his battle-trained reflexes protecting both him and Stretch without a single scratch. Unfortunately for him, he  _wasn't_ expecting Comic - who had awoken to the sound of their voice but was still trapped within his night-terror - to chuck a construct at them personally.

There wasn't enough time for the two to dodge. 

Stretch had 1 hp, Edge had high love, and Comic had Karmic Retribution and dealt one damage.

Morgue didn't even think, she just moved, intercepting the path of the construct while simultaneously moving to move all three of them out its' path.

Unfortunately, she wasn't quite quick enough, and she hissed as the bone grazed the back of her hand on its' way by. She felt the dull burn of Karmic Retribution starting to work its' way through her body and knew she had just been put on a short timer.

"what the hell emm!" Edge merely snarled his displeasure at the abrupt move.

"Sorry, couldn't chance a hit." With no way of knowing how long it would take for Comic to come back to himself, and with not time to spare, she teleported herself behind him and pinned his hands against his ribcage, his back pressed against her chest. It badly freaked him out, but it kept him from attacking the other two and Morgue was running out of time.

"Comic Sans. You are scaring your brother. Papyrus is safe. He's here. Breathe. Blue is safe and here. Breathe. Edge is safe and here. Breathe. Red is safe and here. Breathe. Stretch is safe and here. Breathe. Comic Sans, you are safe. Breathe." Morgue repeated herself as evenly and calmly as she could, even through the knowledge that what she had done was dangerous and risky as hell, that the skeleton in her arms was likely going to react viciously to the perceived attack-

She hid her face in the shoulder of Comic's t-shirt and hoped for the best, keeping her voice and tone as even and calm as possible as she repeated that  _he was safe_ and named everyone by name when she said  _they_ were safe, too. She just hoped this worked.

"Comic Sans, you-"  
"more?" His voice, hesitant and unsure as it was, relieved her so much she allowed herself to be weak  _just this once_ and hug him tightly while burying her face deep into his shoulder. 

"uh, emm? i know you're glad to see Comic safe and sound, but y'think you could mind letting him go? You're freaking him out a little." It took her a moment to make herself comply, but after a deep breath she let go and sat back with a muttered apology. Comic just shook his head. Morgue took another deep breath. She had to keep this moving, because she was running out of time, and this was about Comic, not her.

"... Comic? Are you gonna be okay talking this one over with Edge and Stretch? Red is keeping Blue and Rus in Rus' room." She scooted around to the side in order to see his expression better just in time for him to hide his face behind his hands.

". . . can i not?" The other three in the room almost couldn't understand him around his metacarpals.

**"YOU SCREAMED."** Bless Edge, always bluntly succinct when it mattered.

". . ." He lowered his hands. "shit."

"yeah. luckily neither Rus nor Blue really heard it- it woke them up, but they didn't really  _hear_ it, if you get my meaning." Morgue scooted off the bed.

"Here. I'll go reassure them all is safe and well. You three talk things over."

**"MORGUE?"** Edge called as she was crossing the room to  ~~make her escape~~ the door, forcing her to stop.

"Yeah?"

**"CAN YOU GET MY BROTHER? PERHAPS IF HE SAT IN ON THIS CONVERSATION HE'D GET ENOUGH SLEEP TO STOP BEING A LAZY ASS."** Well, that was one way to confirm that Red indeed suffered the Sans curse of night-terrors.

"Sure thing, Edge." She said, continuing on her way to the door. "I'll just go do that." 

She made it to the door.

She made it through the door, and shut it behind her, 'to give them privacy'. 

Two steps away from the door, her knee gave out, forcing her to go to the wall for support, only to slide down it as her legs refused to support her. She was terribly exposed in the hall, but she'd run out of time. She was glad, she thought as she watched her health deplete to zero, that she had been able to make it out of that room.

.  
.  
.  
.

.

.

  
.

 

 

.

 

 

  
When she came to, every muscle in her physical body ached as the Karmic Retribution ran rampant through her magic and soul. She sat up, rubbing the back of her neck to try and ease some of the tension there. What had she been doing...? Oh yes, she had been on her way to reassure Blue and Rus and retrieve Red. She tried standing, but her body didn't want to respond and the pain made her groan quietly. Still, she was slowly making her way vertic-

**". . . MORGAINE?"** Her head snapped up. Edge was standing at Comic's open door, staring at her in confusion and slight worry. 

"..... Aw hell. Yeah Edge?" The uncertain look was covered up by a look of irritation so convincing that if she hadn't seen it, Morgue wouldn't have thought the original expression ever existed. 

**"YOU WERE TAKING TOO LONG SO THE OTHER TWO GOT... WORRIED. I WAS SENT TO CHECK."** Morgue's suspicion that the story had suffered a little... judicious editing of the exact events was supported by two almost identical snorts from inside the room. Well, at least Comic was feeling well enough to laugh. 

"Sorry Edge, my body decided to take an impromptu nap right here and now. Don't worry over my being lazy- I'll go get your brother now and the four of you can have a good long talk." She pushed herself up the wall, only to bite back a yelp as Edge caught her when her knees buckled again. 

**"I AM NOT RUS, MORGUE- I KNOW WHEN I AM BEING LIED TO."**  He said, striding back into Comic's room and shutting the door behind him. **"BESIDES, THAT EXCUSE HAS BEEN OVER-USED BY MY BROTHER. NOR SHOULD YOU THINK THAT I DIDN'T NOTICE THAT YOU FAILED TO INCLUDE YOURSELF WHEN CALMING COMIC AND SPEAKING TO US."** _FUCK._ Morgue glared up at the scarred skeleton.

"Y'know, you really notice way more than you should."

**"I AM WELL AWARE OF THAT FACT, MORGUE. COINCIDENTALLY, I HAVE ALSO NOTICED YOU ARE TRYING TO AVOID THIS TOPIC. CEASE, AND TELL US WHAT IS GOING ON."** _DOUBLE FUCK_. Comic and Stretch were sitting on the bed watching curiously as Edge cradled her in his arms, but their sockets widened as they realized the thing that Edge had already noticed. Morgue watched in trepidation as the two older brothers got over their 'eureka' moment and their sockets narrowed, gaze honing in on her intently. She recognized that look. She dropped her head back in resignation.

"Fuuuuuuuuck." There was no avoiding it now. Picking her head back up, she speared Comic with her gaze. "First off, I want to emphasize the fact that by no means will you be using interest in  _my_ problems to avoid talking about  _yours_." Morgue watched Comic's gaze stutter, his skull paling as he realized that the other two skeletons in the room agreed with her. She didn't have time to make him agree, though- she could feel her health dropping still. "Edge, please put me down and go sit with Comic and Stretch." The tall skeleton made a sound that suspiciously sounded like his brother's 'fuck that' snort. "Put. Me. Down, Edge. I don't have time to argue." Sighing, the skeleton placed her on the ground amid the rubble before retreating under her relentless gaze to go sit with the two other skeletons, leaving her alone in the middle of the room like she wanted.  ~~She was such a liar.~~

"Before we start, I need you guys to understand that I have very limited time right now, so I can't stop and let you interrupt... and that I would never harm any of you as long as I stay sane." She ignored their looks of confusion and consternation at her odd choice of wording. "I want to say that none of you were supposed to know this... interesting quirk about me. I mentioned it to you and Edge before, though, that day when you came home early and found me in the tub Comic... And Edge showed us that horrid movie." Neither skeleton took interest in her half-attempted joke, and Stretch just looked lost. Taking a deep breath, Morgue continued.

"What is about to happen is not a Reset or Load- it can't mess with your time or your perception of your time. No, I cannot Save, Load, or Reset, even if I wanted to. I lost those abilities... a long time ago, and good fucking riddance." Stretch and Comic both looked like they wanted to interrupt furiously (it was Edge's turn to look lost), but Morgue continued. She could feel her health draining. "If you don't believe me, check with Edge- you both know he doesn't remember Loads or Resets. It's... Not going to look like a normal save star, either... It's black. Being dead won't last long for me... It never does." She noted the look on Comic's face... and the matching one on Stretch's, but her consciousness started to slip before she could say anything about it. "Fucking... hell..s......" She slipped back into unconsciousness, unaware of the three very alarmed skeletons.

 

 

###  _"Morgue!"_

 

 

The first thing she was aware of was that  _everything hurt._

The second was a voice, saying her name, over and over.

**"...orgue....more....mo..GUE.... _MORGUE!"_**

"...nnnnnnn..... whaaaaaaa...." Her tongue felt thick and heavy. Stars, what was wrong with her? Her whole body was in pain, like she had pulled  _all_ her muscles, and her head felt fuzzy... Worried, she checked her stats, remembering her little problem but feeling relieved when she saw that the Karmic Retribution wasn't going to kill her a third time. 

She would rather have her stats reset than be left more than half-dead, but hey- she had at least three (probably four, when Red found out there would be hell to pay) skeletons to talk with and calm down. 

**"...MORGUE?"**

"Yeah Ehdge, 'm still here... giive mee a momennnt, tha' lasst wasss ruffffff..." She shuddered, trying to get her unruly tongue under enough control that she could stop slurring. Cracking her eyes open, she looked around, but she couldn't see much- everything was blurry and her eyes refused to focus. "te-essst..... teesssst..... tessst... test- ah, thar we go... ish."

"... you okay, kid?" Stretch's voice wasn't overtly hostile, but it seemed...reluctant, like Stretch hadn't wanted to inquire after her health. Like he wasn't sure he wanted her in the same house as them, let alone the same room. Morgue still lacked control over her body and couldn't control her flinch.

"... yeah, i'm 'kay. body won' listen t'me, tongue feels like s'wrapped ina sweater, 'n my eyes won' focus- s'no problem. it hurts, but s'alright. i'll deal. jus' ask yer questions... i know y'have 'em." Finally,  _finally_ she got her eyes working again.

Comic, Stretch, and Edge were all standing across the room. Stretch was holding onto an irritated-looking Edge- it looked like the edgiest skeleton wanted to come closer to help. Stretch himself was looking... slightly confused, but his highly distrustful gaze was trained on her. And Comic... While Stretch still seemed confused over why this was happening, Comic looked like he had figured it out. There weren't any lights in his sockets. That... wasn't a good sign. 

"why." 

"yer gonna hav' t'be a li'l more exact."

"why did you die." She grinned up at Comic.

"Comic already knows~" she trilled with false happiness. God, she felt punch-drunk as the Karmic Retribution finally finished and left her health low and her body aching. 

"... karmic retribution." The sound of Comic's voice -  _his_ voice - abruptly returned her senses to her. She sighed, dropping the false happiness.

"Yeah. And yes, I do have an entirely unhealthy amount of LOVE to make it affect me that drastically." She raised her hand and showed them the fading purple glow of the Karmic Retribution where she had been grazed by the construct, not missing how two of the three skeletons had reacted defensively. She sprawled spread-eagle on her back (the least offensive position possible) to try and ease the tension and closed her eyes in resignation. "I simply ask that you wait to kill me until this conversation is over. Otherwise, we'll never get anywhere, and by this time your brothers must be getting anxious. So. The reason for my high LOVE- I felt that there was only one way out of the hell I was in. I lost the Save/Load ability, so every time I died, I Reset. On top of that, my LOVE never Resets with the rest of me- it's entirely cumulative." She sighed again. "Unfortunately, I failed to find a way out of my hell. My world is gone, but I am still here... I can not die. Or rather, I can't  _stay_ dead." It was rather quiet in the room now, she mused absently. "... As soon as I can move again, I'll leave and none of you will ever have to see me again," she finished quietly. She kept her eyes closed, not wanting to see the skeletons' reactions.

A loud snort broke the silence in the room, startling Morgue's eyes open.

**"ALL OF YOU ARE BEING RIDICULOUS."** He ripped his arm out of Stretch's grasp and walked over.  **"CEASE WITH THIS FOOLISH THOUGHT OF LEAVING. IF HAVING A HIGH LOVE WAS A PROBLEM, THEN I WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED NEAR THIS HOUSE EITHER. YOU HAVE GIVEN US AMPLE PROOF OF YOUR INTENT, AND NOT ONE IOTA OF IT HAS WISHED US ILL."** She stared dully up at him as she felt him check her.  **"AND IT WOULD BE EXTREMELY IDIOTIC TO EVEN LEAVE THIS HOUSE WHEN YOUR HEALTH IS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS.** **"**  A noise drew her attention back to the two older brothers in the room. 

 Comic looked resigned, while Stretch looked grumpy, but neither protested when Edge picked up Morgue and cradled her against his chest.

**"THANK YOU."** The comment, entirely unexpected, made Morgue whip her head around in surprised confusion.  **"FOR OPENING UP TO US. I UNDERSTAND HOW HARD IT IS, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU KNOW THAT THE PEOPLE YOU ARE OPENING UP TO DO NOT TRUST YOU, BUT YOU DID IT ANYWAY, SO THANK YOU."** Morgue didn't really know how to deal with his (inexplicable) gratitude, so she ended up wriggling uncomfortably in his grasp as he turned to the others. Gods, she hoped she wasn't actually blushing.  **"AS FOR THE TWO OF YOU- DO NOT THINK I HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT THE TWO OF YOU - AND RED - NEED TO TALK ABOUT THOSE NIGHT-TERRORS YOU OLDER BROTHERS SEEM TO BE SUSCEPTIBLE TO."** He placed Morgue at the foot of Comic's bed (where she promptly propped herself in a sitting position up against the wall) and turned to the door.  **"I WILL GO RETRIEVE MY BROTHER AND REASSURE YOURS."** And with that, he stalked out the door. To be fair though, he seemed to stalk everywhere.

Comic sat down on the bed. If Morgue had any self-preservation instincts at all, she would have gotten worried. As it was though, she had none, so she didn't. 

"y'know... edgelord is right."  _That_ was entirely unexpected, and snapped her attention up to his eyesockets. He snorted at her expression. "it's the truth! unusual, but true. you already said it- you did what you thought you had to do. doesn't mean it was  _right_..." He looked away, seeming to contemplate something for a moment, before turning back "...i've already seen the results of it, haven't i?" It was Morgue's turn to look away. 

"... Partially... yeah, that's one of the reasons." Gentle phalanges turned her head back, although his expression wasn't particularly gentle.

"then why?"

"If you're asking because you're worried it will happen again- don't be. It was a one-time thing. As for why-"

She was saved from answering as Edge re-entered the room with a spluttering, struggling Red slung over one shoulder. 

**"NOW WE WILL HAVE THAT CONVERSATION ABOUT NIGHT-TERRORS."** Morgue completely approved of that statement. Not so much his following one.  **"INCLUDING YOURS, MORGUE."**

 

Only judicious use of blue magic stopped all four of them from teleporting to freedom. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After writer's block from hell, searching for a new job, the rainiest month of the summer (I work at a movie theater), and getting shanghaied by a completely different fandom, I'm back. Sorta.
> 
>  
> 
> That note is very old. True at the time, though. This chapter may have sat half-done for..... well, I got my second job around Thanksgiving (late November for non-Americans). And the original publication date reads "9 September 2017".... Woops? I am posting this at 1am, and since I've already caught a lot of grammatical errors, it's likely that there are a whole slew that I haven't caught. Please let me know if you find any- I edit my own stuff, and proper grammar drives me nuts.   
> Thank you for coming back to read this!

It was only a few minutes later that the four of them - the three older brothers plus Morgue - were lined up on the bed, pinned in place by Edge's blue magic. Morgue was impressed. The four of them couldn't be fighting Edge's magic too badly (most of them  _liked_ the tsundere asshole after all), but holding three reluctant Judges and a reticent human must have been quite a strain. If so, Edge showed no sign of it. 

The skeleton in question stood at parade rest in the middle of Sans' rubble-strewn floor, silently facing the four on the bed. As an interrogation technique, it was impressive- but the people Edge was interrogating were the Judges of their respective worlds (plus Morgue), so the only thing that resulted was an awkward silence. All four of them had either perseverance or patience aplenty, so it was Edge himself who ended up breaking first. 

**" _WHAT_ HAS HAPPENED THAT WE YOUNGER SKELETONS DO NOT KNOW ABOUT?"**

**"what're you talkin' 'bout, Boss?"** Morgue had to admit that Red was a very good actor. But unfortunately for Red, Edge was a better investigator. Besides, Edge had the edge of knowing his brother too well. 

 **"WHATEVER IT IS THAT IS GIVING YOU THREE NIGHT TERRORS THAT KEEP EVERYONE ELSE AWAKE AND WORRY THE BLUEBERRY AND CREAMPUFF TO DISTRACTION."** Both Comic and Stretch winced.  **"I CAN UNDERSTAND WANTING TO KEEP THOSE TWO AWAY FROM SOMETHING THAT GIVES YOU THREE NIGHT TERRORS, BUT I AM NEITHER NAIVE NOR INNOCENT. THERE IS NO NEED TO SHIELD ME FROM THE HORRORS OF THE WORLD."** Morgue leaned back and closed her eyes while the older brothers eyed each other. Seeming to come to a decision, all three of them leaned back against the wall as well, although they kept their eyelights on Edge. 

For a while, no one spoke. 

 **"WELL? YOU THREE OBVIOUSLY HAVE SOMETHING THAT ALL THREE OF YOU KNOW ABOUT, THAT GIVES ALL THREE OF YOU NIGHT TERRORS, AND THAT ALL THREE OF YOU ARE HIDING FROM US!"** Edge's frustration was starting to color his normally iron control. 

 **"we 'ave no idea what yer talkin' 'bout, Boss,"** Red drawled. 

 **"DON'T TRY AND LIE TO ME, BROTHER. I KNOW YOU TOO WELL. I ALSO HAPPEN TO KNOW THAT MORGUE KNOWS YOU THREE'S SECRET. I HEARD HER TALKING TO COMIC AND STRETCH ABOUT IT. SO, DEAR BROTHER, WHAT IS A 'LOAD' AND WHAT IS A 'RESET'?** **"** All three older brothers flinched at the words, which didn't stop Red from leaning around Comic to glare at Morgue (which didn't have any impact on her anyhow because her eyes were still closed). 

 **"good goin', kid,"** he growled sourly.  **"way t' keep a secret."**

"Had to tell Comic and Stretch some things to keep them from freaking out and he happened to be in the room. 'Sides- he's right. You three need someone to talk to, and as someone who has no recall ability, he makes a pretty good third party. He can handle horrors the other two can't." The three skeletons in question exchanged looks before turning their stares back to Edge. Stretch and Comic looked resigned, while Red looked rather mutinous (of course he would- Edge was  _his_ brother). 

None of them spoke, though. The human sighed.

"If none of you say anything, I will." Red hissed at that, but apparently the older-brothers had decided to let Edge learn about everything that had happened. They were not going to be the ones to tell him, though. Morgue sighed again, more irritated. "Fine then. But I will tell him whatever I deem fit for you making me do this." Despite the anger in her voice, she kept her body relaxed and her eyes closed. "Edge," she said with none of the anger she had pointed towards the other skeletons. "What, exactly, do you wish to know?" Edge watched the other skeletons until his brother started to sweat and Stretch started to fidget before answering.

 **"LET'S START WITH MY ORIGINAL QUESTION, PLEASE."**  

"A strong human soul can turn back time to a certain point, essentially 'Resetting' it and allowing for different variations of that timeline to happen," she replied promptly. "Similarly, a 'load' is when a time-powered human soul dies and returns to the last point in time they 'saved'. The only trait that has so far associated itself with temporal magic has been the trait of determination, aka the red souls." Her voice was as dry and bland as a professor's, giving no hints as to her personal thoughts.

Edge mulled this over for a few moments.

 **"WHAT... What Happened To My Brother And The Others?"** Morgue could feel the waiting stillness of the others on the bed.

"The specifics of what happened are between the Judges and their respective humans." Her dull, droning tone never changed. "However, anything and everything could have happened, from happy endings to genocide, only to be Reset and become a timeline-that-never-was, over and over and over again, with seemingly no-one the wiser. Imagine the thrill, the power, of being able to do anything you want without anyone remembering- because it never would have happened. Imagine the moral freedom of being able to erase your actions. Knife slipped? Oops, let me erase that and rewind time until they're alive again." Her dry, inflection-less tone made the implications of her words all the worse. 

 **"FRISK WOULD NEVER-"  
" _frisk_ would, and has!"**  his brother snarled, cutting Edge off. Edge stared at Red, seeming not to know whether to be more surprised that the angelic Frisk he knew had done horrible things, or that those things were bad enough to make his brother snap at him. 

"Frisk may not have been the only one Acting, either." Morgue's voice hadn't changed, and it broke the Fell brothers' detente. All the skeletons stared at her.

 **"you mean, during the bad runs, that wasn't frisk?"** Red asked, incredulous.  **"that frisk isn't a murderer?"**

"Oh no. Frisk had to invite the genocidal soul in, that's how your universes work. That first one is all on them. But after that, they were influenced by a soul bent on genocide. I can say that none of your universes have ever experienced a true, completed genocide timeline, otherwise none of you would be here. Completed genocide timelines lead to erased timelines and fully in-control genocide souls. Since none of you are missing and there haven't been any mysterious monster deaths, none of the genocide timelines were completed." Comic shifted away from Morgue, still staring. Through the whole conversation, Morgue had been leaning against the wall, body relaxed and eyes closed. Her voice had been so flat, so uninterested, that there was no question that it was anything but a facade. 

"how do you know all this, morgue?" Comic asked with the same gentle voice he had used to ask 'why' earlier. Her muscles tensed minutely, magic pushing at Edge's for the freedom to  _flee_ for a second, before she forced herself to relax again. 

"Are you really sure you want to know the answer to that?" Her voice had finally changed, tone low and serious. It made the skeletons reconsider for a moment... but only a moment. 

 **"WELL? TELL US!"** Let it never be said that Edge is not a Papyrus, and sometimes just as impetuous as his counterparts. Morgue was no longer relaxed.

"...Once, a very long time ago, in a very different universe, there was a girl who threw herself down a hole. The girl, having fallen into the Underground, was given power over time, which she found out in due course, having died and been resurrected. Being a complete pacifist soul, she used this to learn the things that allowed not just herself to be free from the mountain, but everyone else as well. She even went back and brought the Determined Flower out in a flower pot. A year passed, and all was well, until the girl was hit and killed in a hit-and-run drive-by. She woke up in the golden flowers at the Ruins, back at the beginning. Believing it to be an accident, or a fluke, she once more freed everyone, even the potted Determination Flower, and again, everything went well. But it wasn't three months before she was killed and woke once more at the beginning of her journey. She was stuck in a time loop. From then on, her goal was not to free everyone, but to stop the loop. To this end, she experimented with the timeline a lot - including loading Saves outside the Underground - but it remained that she began her journey with every death she died outside the Underground, whether she had Saved or not.

"Her experiments with the Loop went on for some time, spread over some amount of Loads and Resets, until the Judge of her universe became fed up and confronted her, at which point the stress overwhelmed her. During her breakdown, she explained everything, and to her shock, he promised to help her. From then on, she was no longer alone. Cordial cooperation turned to friendship, friendship to soul-deep love. On what they believed to be their penultimate timeline, the girl finally grew physically old enough that her Judge greed to officially marry her, having finally survived to adulthood. And on the eve of their wedding... before she could tell him that he would be a..." Morgue took a deep, trembling breath and released it gustily, slowly releasing the tension with it. "...he was murdered." Another shaking breath. "Do you know what it is like to have a soul-mate murdered? Not just family, or a beloved, but someone whose soul is perpetually tied to yours, and yours to theirs. It's..." A third shaking breath, and Morgue was silent for a time. None of the skeletons dared move for fear she wouldn't continue. Eventually, she did.

"The girl woke once more in the golden flowers, disorientated, once more a child, and with an overwhelming need to see her mate and explain that she hadn't meant to Reset... among other things. She opened the Door in record time. But see, in  _her_ world, not one but two Determined souls walk the Underground sharing the same body, and while our protagonist's soul was a devoted pacifist, the Other was bent to genocide. And it was  _that_ soul that summoned the Genocide Blade and used it to... to...." Morgue's breath hitched. "... the Judge was never seen again in any timeline, and the girl, in truth, died with her mate.

"What remained was a half-mad shell, with neither the power nor the will to save or load. Who, a thousand or so Resets later-" Stretch gasped "- the genocidal soul convinced the only way to end her own suffering was to erase her world, since it would take her along with it." The air hissed through Red's teeth. Comic simply watched silently with empty sockets. "Because she was not naturally inclined to violence, it took her an equal amount of Resets to manage it, since every time she died she restarted. Her LOVE never Reset with her though, and both the genocidal soul and the Genocide Blade guided her through the fights. During those Resets, she learned her husband had left her with his monster magic, which complemented her human magic nicely. However, he had also left his brother with the power to keep memories through the Resets. In all the time he remembers, the Judge's brother has never known about his relationship with his sister-in-law, and has only ever seen her as a murderer. In fact, he never knew that the Judge even existed. And in all that time, it was only at the end, with everything dissolving around them, that she obeyed his command to... to kill him." Edge, Red, and Stretch breathed sharply. Comic remained silent. It was some time before Morgue continued quietly.

"... Obviously, my attempt didn't work. My world is gone, but I remain. I can't die, nor can I be erased within a world." One hand rose to clutch the front of her black jacket.

" _how can you stay so relaxed while talking about this stuff?!_ _"_ Surprisingly, it was Stretch who confronted her.

"If you think I can be any sort of relaxed while even  _thinking_ of my past," she growled, "you are sorely mistaken." All the skeletons gasped when she opened her eyes- they were almost glowing with a crisp, clear scarlet. She quickly closed them again, keeping her body language relaxed and open. "If not for my LOVE, the pain and guilt would kill me. But not even LOVE can touch the pain of losing my soulmate- and  _that_ I live with every day. The only way to lose  _that_  is to die; which I cannot do. I cannot bear to live, but I cannot die. I must endure. And while my wounds and my age may Reset when I die, my LOVE does not. So what am I to do, Stretch?" Although her words were aggressive, her tone was tired and weary- and sad. "Do you know the best way to stay sane with high LOVE, Stretch? The Fell brothers could tell you. It's why they stayed sane in their world while their King went mad. The secret is having many strong Anchors- people, places, or items that keep you attached to the world around you. My LOVE is much higher than the Mad King's, and my only strong Anchor is this jacket; the only thing remaining that ties me to my Love." Comic's empty sockets widened, because if her jacket had been blue, it would have been identical to his. Morgue shivered, taking a shuddering breath, before releasing it slowly. When she opened her eyes again, they were her normal dark ones. Even so, the Fell Brothers watched her like she was a rabid snake.

"I try to make many Minor Anchors to make up for my lack of Major ones," she said reassuringly to them. Neither looked convinced. She startled when Comic pulled her into a hug. Considering the conversation topic, she kept her hands firmly at her sides.

"i remind you of him." It wasn't a question, and Morgue was hesitant to respond. "it's alright. you're alright. i'm not him, and i can't replace him- but i am your friend, more, and friends can offer comfort too." Morgue froze, shocked. Her hands rose, hesitated; then she buried her head in his shoulder and clung to him, shaking. She didn't cry. More like couldn't, because she didn't have the tears and hadn't for a long, long time. So she clung to him silently, and eventually the shaking stopped. She didn't stop clinging though, and Comic let her, simply rubbing soothing circles into her back. 

"Don't think this gets you out of talking about your own night terrors," she said, voice muffled in his shoulder.

"darn," he replied placidly, "you figured out my dastardly plan." Red and Stretch snorted (a release of tension) while Edge just sighed. 

 

Neither Comic nor Morgue let go of the other during the ensuing conversation.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Please Rate and Review! Comments and Critiques are highly appreciated, truly- you guys have no idea how much they are. Those sorts of things keep me writing.
> 
> Also, the rewriting starts at Morgue's first collapse. In the original version, she never leaves the room.


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